WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) EVP Kimberly Griffith Sells 6,875 Shares

WesBanco, Inc. (NASDAQ:WSBC) EVP Kimberly Griffith sold 6,875 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, July 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $41.20, for a total value of $283,250.00. Following the sale, the executive vice president directly owned 15,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $653,349.60. This represents a 30.24% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

WesBanco Trading Up 2.5%

WSBC stock opened at $42.01 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43, a current ratio of 0.94 and a quick ratio of 0.93. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $37.51 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $35.80. WesBanco, Inc. has a one year low of $29.18 and a one year high of $42.05. The stock has a market cap of $4.04 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.21 and a beta of 0.67.

WesBanco (NASDAQ:WSBC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 21st. The financial services provider reported $0.92 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.85 by $0.07. The company had revenue of $275.79 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $267.71 million. WesBanco had a net margin of 23.35% and a return on equity of 9.72%. Equities analysts anticipate that WesBanco, Inc. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

WesBanco Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 1st. Investors of record on Friday, June 5th were paid a $0.38 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, June 5th. This represents a $1.52 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.6%. WesBanco’s dividend payout ratio is 44.19%.

WesBanco declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, May 20th that authorizes the company to repurchase 4,000,000 outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the financial services provider to repurchase shares of its stock through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WSBC has been the topic of several research reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on WesBanco from $41.00 to $44.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 23rd. Keefe, Bruyette & Woods reissued a “market perform” rating and set a $42.00 price target on shares of WesBanco in a report on Thursday, July 23rd. Piper Sandler boosted their price target on WesBanco from $40.00 to $43.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, June 26th. Zacks Research raised WesBanco from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, June 22nd. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded WesBanco from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “buy (b)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, three have issued a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, WesBanco presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $43.20.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On WesBanco

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in WSBC. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in WesBanco by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,819,476 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $326,399,000 after buying an additional 224,107 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in WesBanco by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,451,344 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $188,013,000 after acquiring an additional 59,077 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp lifted its position in shares of WesBanco by 0.4% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,663,315 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $117,109,000 after acquiring an additional 14,147 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in shares of WesBanco by 13.7% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 2,764,222 shares of the financial services provider’s stock valued at $91,883,000 after acquiring an additional 332,585 shares during the period. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of WesBanco by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 2,356,011 shares of the financial services provider’s stock worth $78,325,000 after purchasing an additional 15,673 shares in the last quarter. 61.41% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About WesBanco

WesBanco, Inc is a bank holding company headquartered in Wheeling, West Virginia, offering a full range of community banking services through its principal subsidiary, WesBanco Bank, Inc The company serves individual consumers, small‐ to mid‐sized businesses, nonprofit organizations and governmental entities with a relationship‐driven approach and an emphasis on local decision‐making. Through its diversified platform, WesBanco provides core banking functions such as deposit accounts, commercial and consumer lending, mortgage banking, treasury management and electronic banking services.

In addition to traditional banking products, WesBanco offers specialized services including trust and wealth management, investment advisory and insurance solutions.